Native officials, others discuss off-reservation trust lands

DENVER — Even though the number of tribes seeking to put
off-reservation lands into trust for gambling is small, the matter
is one of the top concerns in the world of Indian gaming.

"The issue of land into trust has been around for a long time,"
South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said Wednesday. "But
gaming has changed the landscape, and that has changed the way the
secretary of Interior has looked at this."

Long was among four panelists who participated in the final day
of discussions during the Western Governors' Association Summit on
Indian Gaming, where panelists spoke of the pros and cons of taking
off-reservation land into trust.

The practice allows an Indian tribe to purchase land off its
reservation, after which the secretary of Interior places that land
into trust and in doing so allows the tribe to operate a casino off
the reservation.

In reality, the number of tribes seeking off-reservation lands
for gambling is small, with some 20 cases active across the
country, said Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, chair of the governors'
association. Yet, the matter is taking on increasing significance
among those affected by tribal gaming.

U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo of California, leader of the House
Resources Committee, is moving forward with a bill to restrict
off-reservation gaming, which has the support of many tribal
leaders and local government officials who have asked Congress to
curb the practice.

"I see this as coming to a head," said panelist Kurt Luger,
executive director of the Great Plains Indian Gaming Association.
"The media has given this attention and given it focus, so much
that it has forced tribes like the Great Plains nations to speak
out on the issue."

Luger's organization represents Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana and Kansas, where there are some 15 million
acres of trust land.

"Our real concern is that legitimate trust transfers will be
impacted," he said.

Many of the off-reservation requests to put land into trust are
coming from tribes that want to build casinos near heavily
populated or well-traveled areas to increase casino profits.

For example, the Cheyenne-Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma are trying
to get land placed into trust in Colorado. An early attempt of
theirs sought to put land into trust near the Denver International
Airport.

Owens said he is "diametrically opposed" to the attempt, and
said it is in violation of Colorado's Constitution, which calls for
such a measure to be put to a vote of the people.

Luger makes the argument that the requests are contrary to the
original purpose behind the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988,
which was intended to boost tribal economies through job
creation.

"There is a time when you see somebody is adversely affecting
your neighborhood that one must speak out," said Luger. "You have
to say, 'Look, our goal here was not predicated with the word
revenue. It was predicated with the word jobs.' "

The gaming summit ran Tuesday and Wednesday in Denver, and was
intended to create a dialogue between the states and tribes about
the future of and issues facing Indian gaming.